MEMPHIS — In the back room of a theater on Beale Street, John Renken, 42, a pastor, recently led a group of young men in prayer.

Before the Cage Assault bout in Memphis, Mr. Lane got his hands taped by Pastor John Renken of Xtreme Ministries.

“Father, we thank you for tonight,” he said. “We pray that we will be a representation of you.”

An hour later, a member of his flock who had bowed his head was now unleashing a torrent of blows on an opponent, and Mr. Renken was offering guidance that was not exactly prayerful.

“Hard punches!” he shouted from the sidelines of a martial arts event called Cage Assault. “Finish the fight! To the head! To the head!”

The young man was a member of a fight team at Xtreme Ministries, a small church near Nashville that doubles as a mixed martial arts academy. Mr. Renken, who founded the church and academy, doubles as the team’s coach. The school’s motto is “Where Feet, Fist and Faith Collide.”

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/02/02/us/02fight.html?no_interstitial

Kinda interesting.What do you all think? You'll have to click on the link and read the rest before you can comment :)

County Mike

02-03-2010, 12:59 PM

Whoop that ass and praise God! I like it.

billwilliams70

02-03-2010, 03:51 PM

John Renken owns a gym and ministers here in Clarksville, TN. He does an awful lot of training for the Fort Campbell Combatives Team, they took first place in the All Army Combatives Tourney a few months back.